As the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday, one Milwaukee art gallery is inviting people to reflect on a different question: What does America look like through the eyes of the people who live it?
"This Is America 2026" opens Friday evening at Five Points Art Gallery + Studios in Milwaukee's Harambee neighborhood. Now in its eighth year, the invitational exhibition features 24 artists of color whose work explores identity, immigration, censorship, access, culture and community through painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, live performance and interactive installations. The exhibit will remain on display through Sept. 13.
Founder and curator Fatima Laster created Five Points Art Gallery after experiencing traditional art spaces where she said she often didn't feel welcomed or represented. She transformed a former funeral home into what she describes as a community-centered space where artists can create, exhibit and develop their work.
"I wanted to revive the space, revive energy to the neighborhood, revive careers and opportunities and, um, the spirits and hope within people, um, practicing the arts," Laster said.
For Laster, "This Is America" has always been about creating space for stories that are too often overlooked.
Watch: Milwaukee gallery exhibit explores America through artists of color
"It's a group show that represents artists of color only because our narratives and stories and opportunities were missing. It is an opportunity for these artists to self-represent, self-narrate, and also show the diversity within our union, our practices, our art making, our families," Laster said. She said the exhibition reflects the many lived experiences that make up America.
"There are works commenting on censorship, there are works commenting on access, there are works commenting on immigration, there are works commenting on identity," Laster said. "America itself is an interwoven country. "Unlike previous years, this year's exhibition extends beyond the gallery walls with live art performances, artist talks, an anti-250 community cookout, a music-infused roller-skating installation and other interactive experiences designed to encourage conversation as much as observation.
Curatorial assistant Destiny Brady helped bring the exhibition to life after returning to the United States from London. She said seeing America from abroad reinforced why representation continues to matter.
"Hearing and seeing different voices and different points of views are how we grow," Brady said. Brady said exhibitions like this remain important because they present experiences that are often missing from mainstream conversations.
"I think an exhibit like this would always be important. We would always need to see the different representations of ourselves... whether it's the celebration, the reckoning, the anger, the questioning... because it's being presented that we are just one type of people," Brady said. Laster hopes visitors leave with more than an appreciation for the artwork.
"We don't have to be divisive, we don't have to all agree, but we don't have to be divisive and there's so much more love and joy and being collaborative and unified," Laster said. She said her ultimate hope is that visitors leave with "an open mind and more knowledge and a broader perspective and respect and understanding about people who really exist in this space too."
"This Is America 2026" opens Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. at Five Points Art Gallery + Studios, 3514 N. Port Washington Ave. The exhibition remains on view through Sept. 13, with additional programming and artist talks scheduled throughout the run.
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